Brave Hand India Pale Ale

Brewed by Butte Creek Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Ukiah, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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22 ounce bottle purchased at Nugget in Vacaville, CA. Aroma is a bit sweet, cardboardy, oxidized, with some light floral and citrus notes. Smells a little old for an IPA. (it appears to be about 6 months old judging from previous ratings). Transparent orange copper color with a small off-yellow head. Start is a little oxidized with some grainy, and cardboardy notes. Some toasted malts in the middle. Finishes with some floral hop bitterness. Faded hops, old beer. I am upset that they sold me such an old IPA. Oh well, I will try to re-rate this if I ever see if fresh in the future.

Bomber from the Nugget in Vacaville (thanks to grant for mentioning that). Aroma of floral hop and light roasted malt. Spot on amber color with a white head that hangs around, not quite lacing. Medium body with roasted malt and balancing hop which seems to be floral/citrus. The finish is just not quite dry, and the bitter just balances. Finishes just a bit thin, but it drinks very well. Note: Golden West Brewing is a holding company that holds Butte Creek Brewing. Neither seem to have been successful at making money, and Golden West is taking a shot at making even better beers that will attract buyers willing to pay the costs of production. Mateveza was one of those endeavors. This may be another.

Purchased at the Nugget in Vacaville, CA. The cap was from Butte Creek, and I could find no mention of a Solano Brewing company of Chico, CA (which this claims to be made by) anywhere, so it is presumably a Butte Creek product. There is a website mentioned on the label, www.bravehand.com, which has nothing to do with beer. Strange, but not surprising. On to the beer itself... Pinkish orange, moderate head formation. Herbal, tangerine hop aroma, fairly subdued. Dusty, cereally malt in flavor, spiky orangey hops, quite a bit of presence here. Pretty dry, bitter finish, clean. Pretty standard IPA, little malt character, undistinguished hop character.